OUTBREAK

Punishment #4

BANG BANG BANG

CRASH!

The metal doors to the Dodgers Stadium flung open. Wanderers started flooding in.

"Run!" said Mike Browne, the pitcher for the LA dodgers. Hugo and Ingrid led the women and children through the hall, with Mike trailing behind. He carried his 3-year-old daughter and stayed close to his wife. When they reached the end of the hallway they found another door to the parking lot. They tried pushing it open, but it was jammed.

Mike slammed his body against the door; everyone pressed as hard as they could. The wanderers drew nearer.

WAM

The door to the bleachers swung open and out came the team with metal baseball bats. With each swing, the walls were painted red. Their clothes were already fairly worn from wrestling with each other. Chuck turned around, seeing everyone trapped at the end of the hall.

"My babies!" screamed Chuck. He ran to his wife and sons, comforting them for a moment. "I'm sorry. I won't leave you again. Now everyone move!" The group stepped aside, and Chuck rammed into the metal doors.

BANG

He stumbled back, rubbing his head. The impact shook the surrounding beams and cracked the doorframe, but they were still trapped.

"No!" said Chuck, astonished at the metal door. "Fellas! I need help!" he said to the team. They stopped swinging their bats and came to help. As the wanderers creeped closer, their hungry groans grew louder. Chuck screamed, veins grew from his neck and forehead, "Now!" The team ran as a unit, screaming in manly valor as they charged the metal doors.

BOOM

In a cloud of dust and ruble, the earth shook. The lights in the parking lot were still on, almost as if it was day. The sudden change in brightness almost blinded them.

"Go! Go! Go!" Chuck said, pulling the women and children from the building. They ran into the open parking lot, that was swarming with curious wanderers whose attention has just been drawn. They circled in on the group. The team started swinging their bat's once more, fighting through the dizziness of slamming into a metal door.

Hugo coughed with rubble in his eyes. All he could see were shadows in the cloud of dust. He could see Chuck's figure in the light. He swung his bat, bashing the head of what was probably a wanderer.

"AH!" Daniel screamed.

"Hugo!" Ingrid called out.

Screams of children, women, and men surrounded Hugo. He couldn't see if a shadow was alive or dead, so he ran. He ran into the bushes planted along the parking lot and followed them away from the crowd. He shivered. Every scream, name, and moan that he heard made his heart skip a beat. He could swear that one of those screams could be his little sister, calling to him. Swerving around the occasional distracted wanderer, he snuck into the nearby forest. He squeezed through an open spot in the fence and walked to the highest point on the hill.

He looked back at the parking lot, watching the aftermath of what he abandoned. It was like larva eating a dead animal. For a moment, the wanderers were compressed around the stadium, they had even flooded the field. When not a living person was left, they scattered into the lifeless city once more, leaving a puddle of blood and clothes.

"Hugo?" said Ingrid. She came up the hill with her arm around Timmy. She was limping, and her foot was missing. The two of them were breathing heavily.

"Ingrid!" said Hugo, running to her.

"Shhh," Timmy shushed, abruptly.

Hugo ran to her, helping her sit on a patch of grass. "Oh God. No..." Hugo looked closer to Ingrid's missing foot. The ripped pant leg was covering the wound, the dark made it hard for them to see. The bottom of her pant leg had a rotten filth to it, with a freshly ripped hole the size of a bite mark.

"I'm fine," Ingrid panted. She rolled up her pant leg to reveal her flesh. Her foot was missing, but not from a wanderer. It was just a stump below her knee.

"What?" said Hugo.

"Amputated." She rolled up her other pant leg, revealing a prosthetic foot. "Diabetes," she said, looking away from Hugo.

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Hugo, in a dimmed voice.

Ingrid looked back at him, "It does not matter anymore. If the illness didn't kill me, then dead would have."

Timmy was on his knees, gazing at the parking lot. "They're gone," he said. "My boys. Sharla." Tears trailed down his cheek. His jaw was dropped. The lights in the parking lot reflected in his eyes, but they shut off, engulfing the stadium in pitch black. Timmy, Ingrid and Hugo were left in darkness, listening to the groaning city and the bugs in the trees.

As the morning sun rose, the fires across LA turned from orange beacons to pillars of smoke. The bright white Hollywood sign was the only thing still intact.

Timmy's eyes were crusty from quietly sobbing throughout the night. Hugo and Ingrid had sat beside each other, not speaking a word. The bags under their eyes reminded them of the night before.

"What now?" said Timmy, sniffling some boogers. Hugo and Ingrid turned to Timmy, without answer. From the corner of Hugo's eye, he saw a helicopter coming in from the south. When he turned his head, the others followed.

"Looks like they missed the memo," said Ingrid.

"I doubt it," said Timmy.

As the helicopter drew nearer, it stopped above a platform behind the Hollywood sign and started descending. They watched it for a moment. Several soldiers were loading up cargo onto the chopper, almost as if they were in a rush.

"I'm going," said Timmy, lightly shaking his head. He started walking.

"What happened to not attracting attention?" said Ingrid with a curled brow.

Timmy continued walking. When he was just out of sight, Ingrid leaned over to Hugo.

"You should go," she said.

"What? No, I- I still need you to help me find my sister."

"No, Hugo. There's nothing I can do."

"What are you talking about? You're fine. Y- you can walk still." Hugo tried lifting Ingrid onto his shoulder. "See? See?" Ingrid gently pulled back, but his grip was too strong.

"Stop, Hugo. Stop. Stop!" Ingrid pushed Hugo over. He dropped her and rolled twice down the hill. "I'm sorry, Hugo. I don't have my foot anymore. I am nothing to you." Hugo got up, stumbled back to her with an exhausted breath.

"But-"

Ingrid's eyes were watering. Her lips quivered seeing Hugo in such a ruined state. "She's out there, I know you'll find her... I'm tired, Hugo."

Hugo couldn't find the words. He stood with his arms pressed against his sides, frantically shaking his head. The sun glimmered in the tears of his eyes. "M- m- mm..."

Ingrid shook her head and dismissed him. Hugo closed his mouth, stepped aside, and followed Timmy. As he walked, he swayed with each step. He looked at the dirt, following Timmy's footprints.

When Hugo was out of Ingrid's sight, she leaned back onto the hill and took a deep sigh.

"This is my punishment," she said, falling asleep in the morning sun.